Q: In defense against those who believe that Islam is devoid of spiritual
ranks of merit, mysticism, or miracles; what is the basis for belief concerning
the awliya and their hierarchy? What is agreed upon as regards their
existence and the existence of the Qutb?

Wa alaykum as-Salam:

The Holy Qur'an explicitly mentions the Awliya and describes them as the
Believers who fear Allah:

O ye who believe! When ye are told to make room in the assemblies, (spread
out and) make room: (ample) room will Allah provide for you. And when ye are
told to rise up, rise up. Allah will rise up, to (suitable) ranks (and
degrees), those of you who believe and who have been granted (mystic)
Knowledge. And Allah is well- acquainted with all ye do. [58:11

]

and that:

وَفَوْقَ كُلِّ ذِي عِلْمٍ عَلِيم

"above every knowledgeable one there is one more knowledgeable," [12:76]:

and that "those whom Allah has particularly graced"
are defined as "the Prophets, the Siddiqs, the Shuhada', and the
Righteous" in that order:

and that some Prophets were exalted above others. So
we must all agree that there is a hierarchy of Believers in general, and
hierarchies of Awliya and Prophets in particular.

The early scholars of hadith were very interested in the topic of the Awliya'
and they gathered not only the hadiths but even non-Prophetic accounts about
their states and miraculous gifts, and even dreams. For example, Ibn Abi al-Dunya's
al-Awliya and the compilations respectively entitled al-Awliya' and
Karaamaat al-Awliya' by the two Hanbalis al-Khallal and al-Lalika'i, as well
as Abu Nu`aym's renowned Hilyat al-Awliya.

These books are available to us but ignorance is human and people tend to be the
enemies of what they don't know, including "those who believe that Islam is
devoid of spiritual ranks of merit... or miracles." The Holy Prophet, upon him
blessings and peace, said that the only cure for the malady of ignorance is to
ask.

The Companion Sufyan ibn `Uyayna said, "The learned scholar does not care
for people's positions or feelings when he disseminates the Divine wisdom; if
you accept he praises Allah, and if you reject he praises Allah." (As for the
term "mysticism," it is best to steer clear of it since it is largely
misunderstood to mean something ethereal or purely spiritual and tends to betray
the fact that the Awliya are the most practical and act-oriented people
of humankind.)

As for a specific terminology for the Awliya' the Prophet, upon him
blessings and peace, did use certain terms such as Abdal (substitutes),
or certain qualifications of intercession such as the hadiths in which he refers
to certain arch-intercessors such as our liegelords `Uthman ibn `Affan and Uways
al-Qarani. Ibn `Asakir in his Tarikh (51:282) narrates with his chain
that when Imam al-Shafi`i finished memorizing the Qur'an he said to himself:
"You have obtained the Qutb al-A`zam" i.e. the greatest axis or authority
around which the Religion revolves.

However, the terms "ghawth", "qutb" and the like to mean
individuals among the Awliya' may have been devised as a convention among
later scholars (see, for example, the treatises by al-Suyuti in al-Hawi
lil-Fatawi and Ibn `Abidin in his Rasa'il) and are not binding upon
the Muslims as terminology. As the scholars say, "la mushahata fil-mustalah,"
meaning: "Don't nag about how we call things."